As many as 34 new shopping malls, covering 13.6 million sq ft area, are expected to come up in top eight cities by 2020 as the scope for retail real estate remains high, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Hyderabad will see maximum 11 malls by 2020, followed by Delhi-NCR 8 malls, Bengaluru 6 malls, Chennai 4 malls, Kolkata and Mumbai 2 malls each and Pune one mall. No new supply is expected in Ahmedabad.

"India will see close to 34 new malls by 2020 in the top 8 Indian cities," the consultant said in a report.

Leasing of retail space in malls increased by 55 per cent during January-September this year at 2.3 million sq ft.

However, new supply saw a year-on-year decline of 63 per cent at 1.9 million sq ft.

"There is now a regained confidence amongst developers to pay heed to this sector as investors show greater commitment towards it," C&W said, adding that an estimated Rs 7,959 crore has been invested by private equity funds in malls since 2016.

"With the estimated size of retail sector pegged at Rs 1 trillion by 2020, at an approximately 15 per cent CAGR between 20162020, the scope for retail real estate remains high," C&W India Country Head and Managing Director Anshul Jain said.

With foreign retailers entering the country and expanding aggressively, he said brands prefer to open shops in malls that are likely to see higher occupancy levels.

"Hence, over the next few years, investors will be on a lookout for professionally managed, well-run malls that would witness yields improving and rental values inching up, thereby improving returns for investors," Jain said,

Hyderabad will be witnessing the largest number of new retail malls at 11 new malls, more than doubling its current mall inventory for under 3 million sq ft to over 6 million sq ft by 2020.